Sun, 21 Aug 2011

A recent short hike at Sanborn was unexpectedly productive for
creepy-crawlies.

At the lower pond, we looked for California newts. There were lots of
newts last week a few miles away at Montebello, so we thought we'd see
some at Sanborn too. But there weren't many adult newts in the pond --
we could only find three. That pond has never recovered from its
draining
three years ago, which seems to have killed all the fish and crayfish
and driven away most of the newts.

But we did see one very interesting sight: a large underwater bug, at
least 2 inches long. It first caught our attention jetting through the
water to the shallows near where we stood, where it sank to the bottom
and rested for a while (posing for pictures!) It moved only slightly
during the couple of minutes we watched it ... then it suddenly
jetted off toward another part of the pond. I say "jetted" because
it didn't move its legs or proto-wings at all; it moved like a torpedo,
presumably propelled by a jet of water.

Upon returning home, at tip from a friend (thanks, Wolf!) I looked up
dragonfly nymphs. Indeed, that's what this was. Much more massive than
an adult dragonfly, these larvae apparently live underwater for
several years, eating bugs, fish and small amphibians, until they're
finally ready to metamorphose into the beautiful winged adults we're
familiar with.

An interesting creature, and one I'd never seen before.

The small upper pond, unlike the lower one, was full of life.
Small fish up to about an inch and a half schooled in the shallows.
Some larger koi lurked near the reeds.
But I spotted something that clearly wasn't a fish: yes, there's still
at least one larval newt left in the pond. It obligingly lounged in a
sunny spot near the pond's edge so I could snap pictures capturing its
feathery gills as well as four tiny feet.

We also stopped by the scum pond at Walden West. No bullfrogs, no turtles.
The only life we saw there was a couple of female mallards, eagerly
vacuuming up the scum. That pond, with its surface completely covered
with algae, must be paradise for an algae-eating duck ... I wonder why
I don't see more of them there.

And as long as the subject is crawling animals,
I can't resist throwing in a snapshot of a garter snake I spotted
today at Huddart. Nothing especially rare or exotic, but a pretty
little thing nontheless.